When the Masks Come Off
by theycallmemichelle
Summary: Suddenly Nate spun me around and before I knew it, his lips were on mine. I fluttered my eyes open and saw his Phantom of the Opera mask covering half of his face, his brown man-bangs all over the place. 1x06 AU Oneshot Serenate R&R!


"Jenny?" I said suddenly, causing the girl with the purple, feathery mask and yellow dress to look up with absolute fear, but then relaxed when she saw me.

"Oh. Hi, Serena!" Jenny Humphrey, the cute fourteen year old she was, piped up, lifting her mask over her face. She fluffed up her blonde, wavy hair that was piled up on top of her hair, with a few curls hanging in her face. For a freshman, she looked pretty gorgeous.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, smiling. From what I heard from Blair, Jenny wasn't supposed to be coming to the masquerade.

"Um, I sort of crashed." Jenny grinned sheepishly. "But Blair doesn't exactly know I'm here, and I kinda wanna keep it that way," she added urgently.

"Oh, sure. No problem," I reassured her. "Blair never has to know!"

"Good," she sighed, relieved.

"I guess I better go back to the party. I have to do this thing with Blair…Kati and Isabel gave clues ot Nate that led him to me so that I can lead him to Blair, and if he gets there by midnight—well, nevermind that. I have to go give him the last clue," I waved my words away with my black-gloved hands, not wanting to taint her young mind with ideas of Blair and Nate…doing things.

"'Kay. Have fun! I think…" Jenny laughed and I smiled at her before slipping my black-and-yellow feathery mask over my eyes once more, straightening my black furry shrug and exiting the Ladies' Lounge with a flip of my curly-wavy blonde hair.

I had barely taken a couple of steps before I felt someone breathing down my neck—I felt an arm grab me and pull me close, and then an all-too familiar voice murmuring in my ear.

"Look, Serena. I know we both care about Blair, and we don't want to hurt her. But I just can't help myself—I'm not over you." Nate Archibald paused. "If you don't stop me, I'm going to kiss you." He added.

I moved my mouth, but no words came out—it was just too much. The last time Nate and I spoke to each other, he vented to me about finding some cocaine in his study that he was certain was his dad's—he had definitely checked me out, as I was wearing almost nothing but a bathrobe (I was about to get ready for the ball), and he had tried to hold my hand several times. I had made it clear to him the morning I got back from boarding school—He was Blair's boyfriend, and she loved him. That was how it was meant to be, and I didn't come back for him. No matter how great that night was, almost two years ago.

Suddenly Nate spun me around and before I knew it, his lips were on mine. I fluttered my eyes open and saw his Phantom of the Opera mask covering half of his face, his brown man-bangs all over the place. His blue-green eyes were closed as he kissed me, and I had to admit I kissed him back a little. But the moment I felt his tongue push against my lips, I pushed him away.

"No!" I sputtered, shaking my head as if to erase the memory. "No…this, this can't be happening. No. We can't! We just…can't." I stammered.

"Why?" Nate whispered as he tried to pull me gently back. But I stopped him.

"Because you have Blair! And I have Dan." I protested sternly.

"C'mon, Serena—you and Dan have had what? Two dates and a few French kisses? Think about all the stuff that we had," he reminded me.

"Yeah, and then think about you and Blair! You've been dating since grade school—she's _in love_ with you, Nate. And don't give me anything about you not loving her back—I know you do." I argued.

"Not as much as I love you," Nate said softly. I swear my heart stopped, for a split second. If Dan wasn't in the picture, and if Blair and I were still on bad terms…yeah, I probably would give in to Nate. But that wasn't the case, and I liked Dan too much and Blair was my best friend.

"We can't." I repeated more firmly.

"Yes, we can," Nate said, pulling me into his arms.

"No! _I _can't." I cried, pushing away so hard that I heard Nate utter a loud _oof!_ "And guess what—I'm not. Blair's waiting for you. She's wearing a big crown on her head," I added, took one last look at my first love, and stormed away, not glancing back once.

Tears stung my navy blue eyes and clouded my vision as I stomped through the crowds of dancing, masked people, thankful for my mask. All I needed on top of Nate wanting me back while he's dating Blair and I'm dating Dan was a Gossip Girl blast informing everyone that I was crying, and someone was bound to find out about Nate and I sooner or later after that. Who knows? There probably was already a streaming video of us kissing on the blog already—

_Beep! Beep!_

My phone started vibrating and ringing in my black clutch. I paused in the middle of the ballroom, surrounding by bodies moving and convulsing to Nekta's "Guess Who" blaring from speakers as tall as me situated at different points of the room. I shakily opened my cell and squinted at the words that were swaying in my teary eyes.

_**FROM: GOSSIP GIRL**_

_**TO: ALL**_

**Uh-oh…can you say kiss-and-tell? Can you say it when the kisser is N, the kissee is S, and the _not_-tell-to is B? I can—and again, and again, and again. But I can do more than just talk gossip all day…I can show proof.**

**Below the gossip blast was a blown up picture of Nate and I kissing passionately a few minutes before. Our mouths were open, a half-inch apart, and Nate's tongue was clearly visible.**

**You know you love me,**

**Xoxo Gossip Girl**

A few collective gasps and giggles were heard all around me as I looked up, my mouth forming an _o_ as I saw everyone back away from me a few feet, forming a semi-circle. I heard a distinct _Oh-My-God_. I lifted my mask over my head, my eyes scanning the sudden crowd.

My eyes met with a girl standing in front—she was tall, although I towered over her by a good few inches, and she was wearing a black-and-purple floorlength gown complete with elbow-length gloves. A shiny tiara glinted atop her brown hair, piled and curled atop her head. Her rhinestone-studded mask was in her hands, and she stared at me with so much coldness I almost froze completely—I did, until I saw a tear streak down her face. She shook her head at me slowly, keeping the same expression of icyness, turned on her boot-clad heels and strutted away. I blinked and chased after her, the crowd seperating to make a convenient path for me.

"Blair! Blair, wait!" I screamed. "Please!"

When she almost reached the door, Blair whipped around so suddenly that I almost crashed into her—I steadied myself and looked her in the eyes.

"What the hell do you want, Serena." She began as a statement rather than a question.

"Blair, please listen—I didn't kiss Nate," I panted.

"Bullshit. I saw that picture just like everyone else," she immediately doubted.

"_He_ kissed _me_, just like Gossip Girl said. It was all of a sudden, I didn't even get a chance to say anything," I explained.

"You obviously kissed him back." Blair protested. "And don't give me any shit about you being sorry—you know you aren't. You know you liked it."

"I…" my voice trailed off. I didn't know what to say.

"I _knew_ I shouldn't have made you my last lady-in-waiting. I had a feeling you would pull something like this," Blair continued. "I was right."

"Blair, I _am_ sorry! One minute I was talking to Jenny in the Ladies' Lounge and all of a sudden he's telling me he's not over me and before I knew it he was kissing me!" I protested in one breath.

"_Jenny_'s here?" Blair hissed. "She wasn't invited! I specifically told her she wasn't allowed to—!" Blair stopped, suddenly glaring at me. "_You_ invited her, didn't you! Either that, or you knew she was here and didn't bother to tell me! Just like you didn't tell me about Nate."

"B, let me explain—!"

"No, Serena. No matter what you do, you can't make this right. And I saw you kissing that Brooklyn bum the other night, too—I was right. You are the biggest slut I ever met," Blair snapped. "Only my friends call me B," she added crisply before turning around and walking out the door.

My cell phone rang again. I opened it:

**_FROM: GOSSIP GIRL_**

**_TO: SERENA_**

**All eyes on you, S…xoxo!**

I glanced up and locked eyes with Dan Humphrey as Blair shoved past him. His Robin mask was in his hands, and he was peering at his opened cell phone. He swallowed and his eyes got cold and angry. Then he looked up and saw me.

I smiled and walked up to him, trying to lighten the mood. "Hey," I said.

"Nice picture," he immediately said, holding up his cell phone for me to see. It was the picture of Nate and I kissing.

"Dan, I can explain," I insisted. "Nate caught me off guard, told me he wasn't over me, and then he started kissing me. I had nothing to do with it—I even told him I wasn't going to be with him because I liked you too much," I explained.

"Yeah? So why were you kissing him back?" Dan countered, arms crossed.

"As if you wouldn't? I mean, not that Nate would kiss you, but if _Vanessa_ started making out with you, you wouldn't kiss back? Not even a little?" I retorted.

"Vanessa has nothing to do with this!" he cried.

"So you _would_ kiss her?"

"I didn't say that! First of all, the only one doing the kissing was you and Nate, and whatever goes on between me and Vanessa, my _friend_, is none of your business!"

"It is if you tell her you love her when you're dating me," I disagreed.

"I did not _recently_ tell her I love her. It was two years ago, when she moved away and before I even met you," he explained.

"Yeah, but did you ever get over that?" I asked.

"Yes—er, no…what I mean to say is, when she moved away I knew there wasn't going to be able to be an _us_. So, I let her go. And then I met you," Dan said softly, taking my hands.

"And when I went to boarding school, I knew Nate and I could never be together, so I let him go. And then _I_ met _you_," I agreed, leaning forward. "I didn't want Nate to kiss me."

"To be honest, I didn't want him to kiss you, either," Dan admitted, making me burst into giggles. He smiled and kissed me. It wasn't a fast-paced, passionate tongue-y kiss, but it was slow and meaningful, with a lot of emotion in it.

"Call me later?" I pleaded.

"I promise. After I make things right with my friend," Dan compromised.

"Okay," I sighed. "I mean—if you say it's in the past, it's in the past. I can deal."

"Same goes for you," Dan replied. I nodded perkily. "I like you, and only you." He added.

"Good, because I feel the same way about you," I said, smiling. "Speaking of friends—I have to make things right with mine, too," I added, remembering Blair.

"Then let us commence the kiss-and-make-up process!" Dan proposed dramatically. "Minus the kiss, seeing as I'm dating you, and you are obviously not a lesbian—I hope," he added hastily.

"Nice save," I laughed. "'Kay! Bye," I said, kissing him on the cheek, smiling at him and walking out the door.

When I reached the street lamp and waited for a cab to call, I paused. The memory of Nate passionately kissing me rushed through my head. I felt my heart skip a beat. I thought of the first time Dan and I kissed. I felt all light and fluffy, but also a sense of…_dissappointment_.

As If my mind was read, my cell phone rang. Flipping it open, I had to read the text message twice for it to register in my mind.

**_Not as much as I love you._**

It was signed with a big, fat **N.**


End file.
